The Night I Dreamt of The Doctor (Chapter 2)
by Taylor Oswin-Oswald
Summary: Continuation of my first story Rated K for mild language and violence Please forgive any and all grammatical and/or spelling mistakes Enjoy :) Please Review :)


**Chapter 2**

'Katie? Katie!' Liza's voice pulls me awake.

'What?' I say, lifting my head off the table.

'Are you going to eat that sandwich or use it as a pillow?' She laughs as I feel the bread crumbs on my cheek.

'I was asleep?' I ask, rubbing my face.

'Like a baby.' Liza takes one of my potato crisps and eats it, her smile never fading. 'Late night?' She finally asks.

I want to tell her, tell her the truth, but every way I think of saying it in my head sounds ridiculous.

'Yeah,' I lie. 'Watched telly till all hours. Stupid thing to do, on a work night and all.'

Liza nods, I know she's not convinced, but it's not in her nature to pry.

I've known Liza since university; we both went to the same midwife school and worked in the same hospital since our certification. The professors loved her, her Scottish accent making any joke twenty times funnier than if a Brit would tell it. She takes another crisp.

'Anyway,' she says. 'Do you want to do something tonight? We both have it and tomorrow off.'

'What would you want to do?'

'Get all dolled up, go out for a night on the town, have cute guys buy our drinks.' She grins from ear to ear. My mouth goes dry at 'cute boys'. I shake my head and smile, unconvincingly I'm sure.

'Love,' Liza begins, leaning up against the table. 'It's been six months. Don't you think it's time to move on?'

I shake my head again, my throat feels tight and my eyes burn with tears. I blink them away and manage to choke out; 'No.'

'Don't you think Mark would have wanted you to move on?'

My face grows hot with anger. 'Ever since Mark died people have been telling me that,' I snap. 'What he would have wanted. "He would have wanted you to be happy", "he would have wanted you to be strong and not grieve him", "he would have wanted, he would have wanted"! He's dead! How can anyone know what he would have wanted?! I know for a _fact_ that he wanted to be with _me_! Not leave me like that!'

Liza stares at me, her eyes pitiful and sympathetic. I shouldn't have snapped at her like that. That was not fair of me. I put my elbows on the table and drop my face into my hands, rubbing my face violently.

'I'm sorry Liza,' I say, my voice sounds pathetic. 'That wasn't fair of me-'

'No,' she interrupts. 'That wasn't fair of _me_. I shouldn't act like I know what you want or what Mark wants. You're right, he wanted you and I shouldn't try and speak for him.'

This is why I love Liza, she always owns up to her mistakes; no matter what I do she always makes the problem go away by taking the fall. It also makes me feel sick. I shouldn't let my friend always feel like she's at fault. 'The fault is with me Liza,' I say. 'I appreciate what you just said but I shouldn't have snapped, I should control my temper.'

She smiles at me. I smile back.

'You know what we're going to do?' She says, I can see the wheels in her head turning.

'What?'

'I'm going to bring over ice cream and DVD's and we're going to stay up all night, and get fat together.'

I smile. My body aches for the sleep it's been denied for eight months. All I want to do tonight is sleep, and tomorrow, sleep again! But the more I think about Liza's plan, the more I like it. It'll be good to laugh and joke with someone I love being with!

'Come over at 7,' I say. 'I'll have the pizza and the couch cushion fort ready.'

The ground is warm and sticky. The blood from my cheek and shoulder is creating a puddle below my fallen body.

The eleventh chime causes more pain in my head.

The grinding sound grows louder. I open my eyes; I see a blurry blue wall in front of me. Once I gather my focus, I see the pattern of wood. The doors open as the clock chimes for the twelfth time. I scream out in pain as two arms grab me.

'Katie! Katie!' A man's voice calls my name, over and over. His voice begins to change-into a woman's.

'Katie! Katie wake up!'

I jolt awake; my chest hurts as I breathe, short, quick breaths.

'Oh my God Katie!' Liza is looking down at me. I look swiftly around. I am on the floor, in front of the sofa. The television shows the main menu for 'Love Actually' and there are two empty ice cream containers. My body relaxes when I see I am safe at home.

Liza rushes to the sink and brings me a glass of water. I sit up and take it gratefully. I gulp the glass in a matter of seconds. The cold water hits my stomach like a punch. I cough and Liza takes the cup.

'Are you okay?' She asks, her light eyes are wide with worry and fear. All I can manage is a shake of the head, my breathing not allowing me to talk yet. She wipes my forehead.

'You're covered in sweat?' She grabs one of the rags from the ground and wipes my face.

We sit in silence for a few minutes. I bring my knees to my chest and wrap my arm around them. My breathing is finally slowing down. 'I'm sorry if I scared you,' I say.

'Scared me,' she replies, laughing nervously. 'You screamed at the top of your lungs! I thought you were hurt!'

'I'm fine.' I say.

'No you're not, look at you! You're covered in a cold sweat and you can't breathe right! What the hell happened?'

I swallow, my mouth stark dry again, I long for more water but I owe her an explanation.

'It was a nightmare.'

'That's all? A nightmare?'

'Yes.'

'Well it must have been one hell of a monster chasing you to scream like that.'

I know she doesn't believe me when I say 'just a nightmare'. I can't take it anymore. I've lied to myself long enough, I won't lie to her. I tell her everything; what the nightmare is, how long I've had it, everything. When I finish, my face is wet with tears I don't remember shedding and Liza just stares at me, her expression blank and unwavering.

'Katie,' she finally says, breaking the silence that has only been filled with our breathing; hers slow and steady, mine fast and short. 'This is-eight months?'

I nod.

She sighs and runs her digits through her red, curly hair, tattered and knotted from sleep. 'You don't have the same dream for eight months unless-'

'Unless what?' I ask.

'Unless it's some sort of…vision.

I shake my head. 'No, no it's not that.' I throw the blanket off and stand, rubbing my palms up and down my legs. Liza rises with me.

'Katie you can't ignore this!'

'Yes I can!' I yell. 'I can and I will!'

'Why? This could be a message from the future, you need to listen!'

'No! I won't'

'Why are you determined to ignore this?' Liza asks. I turn violently to face her.

'Because,' I snap, my face covered with sweat and tears. 'If that's true it means I am going to die. I don't want to die!' My voice breaks into a sob. Liza looks at me, her eyes shining with tears. She hugs me and I squeeze her shirt. 'I don't want to die!' I say again.

She holds me tight, telling me it will all be alright.

I want to believe her, how I want to believe her. But deep down I know she's right; these dreams are my future, and I am going to die.


End file.
